2018 Fall Food Festivities: Don't miss these events and recipes

The roller coaster of temperatures that moves summer into fall can get our appetites going, too. Fortunately, it’s harvest time, so we will be well-served. Several events in Northeast Ohio will be making a party of it, if you’re not staging your own. We’ll be exploring the details of five events and seven related recipes, all shown below.

The benefit for Refugee Response at Ohio City Farm includes a look at the new tandoori oven built on site. (Photo by Jerry Birchfield for Front Triennial).

Ohio City Farm hosts its annual benefit Saturday Sept. 15, raising money for the talented refugee group that grows vegetables there. I stopped by this summer and bought the sweetest, most tender and crispest carrots I’ve had in a long time, plus a small fennel bulb packed with twice as much flavor as the supermarket kind. Trentina, Tartine Bistro, Black Pig, Toast, Urban Farmer are only a few of the many top restaurants that will be providing the food for REAP, the benefit. The skyline view will come courtesy of Cleveland.

Julia Collin Davison and Bridget Lancaster will be in Cleveland Monday (Sept. 17) for a live show at Ideastream studios. ((Photo by Carl Tremblay for America’s Test Kitchen)

Public television is taking our love of food on the road with live appearances here Monday Sept. 17 by two top staffers from the show, “America’s Test Kitchen.” The series is so popular, it runs two different episodes on Saturdays. Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison will be stopping by to dispense – and gain – advice. Mostly dispense, since their recipes are tested 30-40 times before they are delivered to the public. In a pre-show interview, Lancaster says she’s come to see the wisdom of her grandmother cooking a certain dish each night of the week and mastering it. “But if you put dinner on the table, you win the game, even though how you get there may be different for each person.”

One is good, but more is a competition. Find that at Ohio City Street Festival. (Photo by Peggy Turbett/The Plain Dealer)

You can buy a savory Frank’s Bratwurst anytime you walk in West Side Market, but go during the Ohio City Street Festival Sunday Sept. 23 and you can compete to eat the most. If that’s not your style, Sebastian’s Meats will be cooking and so will Kate’s Fish. Word is that the latter will be grilling lobster tails. And the market will be open.

Bring your own accordion and get in free to the Slovenian Grape Festival. (Photo by Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer)

Roast beef, Slovenian sausage and fresh doughnuts will be on the menu at the Slovenian Grape Festival in Kirtland on Sunday Sept. 23. And you can get juiced, or pluck your own grape bunches to make juice at Emerita Vineyards in Madison starting Saturday Sept. 29. We have the times, dates and locations for all of these events, and a gathering of recipes to keep you happy if you can’t make it to every one. Either way, have a bountiful September.